Jonathan Pogge-Weaver submitted his resignation from the Benson City Council Monday night with his fellow council members accepting it with regret.

Pogge-Weaver (pictured) was elected to a four-year term last November and had served just nine months. However, his husband Swift County Administrator Mike Pogge-Weaver has accepted the job of city administrator for Carroll, Iowa. He has also submitted his resignation and will be leaving Oct. 21.

A special election has been set for Jan. 10 to fill the remaining three years in Pogge-Weaver’s term.

Benson’s council has five members, four council members and the mayor. With Pogge-Weaver leaving, there would be just four until the special election to decide his replacement is conducted. With Mayor Gary Landmark expected to be gone for two weeks before the special election, council members were concerned that they might not be able to get a quorum should an emergency arise.

To address that concern, the council voted unanimously to bring back former longtime City Council Member Sue Fitz to serve until Pogge-Weaver’s replacement is elected. Fitz served on the council from 1995 to 2015. She decided not to run for re-election last year and, Wolfington told the council, only intends to fill in until the Jan. 10 election.

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